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Actors portray a biblical scene of Jesus riding into Jerusalem amid shouts of hosanna. The scene was part of a dress rehearsal for “Mesa Easter Pageant: Jesus the Christ” in Mesa, Arizona, on March 18, 2024. Photo by Scott P. Adair, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Jill P. Adair, for the Church News
Jesus Christ has “done everything that is essential for our journey through mortality toward the destiny outlined in the plan of our Heavenly Father,” said President Dallin H. Oaks.
“Just before Easter Sunday, it is timely to speak first of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” said President Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The resurrection from the dead is the reassuring personal pillar of our faith. It adds meaning to our doctrine, motivation to our behavior, and hope for the future.”
Addressing the Mesa Easter Pageant cast and crew at a devotional before the show on Saturday, March 23, President Oaks thanked all who are participating in the pageant, titled “Jesus the Christ.”
Jesus Christ — His life, ministry, atoning sacrifice and Resurrection — is “deserving of greater attention,” said President Oaks.
“Because we believe the Bible and Book of Mormon descriptions of the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also accept the numerous scriptural teachings that a similar resurrection will come to all mortals who have ever lived upon this earth,” said President Oaks. “But the Resurrection gives us more than this assurance of immortality. It changes the way we view mortal life.”
The Resurrection gives all the perspective and the strength to endure the mortal challenges and the opportunity to be forgiven of sins, he said. “Our Savior and Redeemer endured incomprehensible suffering to become a sacrifice for the sins of all mortals who would repent.”
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President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, center, and his wife, Kristen, participate in a devotional for the cast and crew of the Mesa Easter Pageant, with Pageant Chair Matt Riggs, left, in Mesa, Arizona, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Photo by Scott P. Adair, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.Jesus also taught the plan of salvation, the commandments and covenants all must obey, and the ordinances God’s children must experience to take them back to their heavenly home, said President Oaks. “In short, because He loves us, He taught us how to live. He challenged us to focus on Him instead of the degraded patterns of this mortal world. He even taught us to improve on earlier ways by living a higher law.”
The Book of Mormon also teaches that Jesus Christ “feels and knows our temptations, our struggles, our heartaches and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as part of His Atonement,” taught President Oaks. “Jesus Christ did all of this because He loves all of the children of God. Love is the motivation for it all, and it was so from the very beginning.”
President Oaks said the Mesa Easter Pageant is an excellent support of one of the Church’s major initiatives to “celebrate Easter in a way that is appropriate as a worldwide commemoration.”
“I am pleased to say thank you for your wonderful efforts, and in doing so, I speak on behalf of the First Presidency of the Church, who are aware of your remarkable service and that of those who have preceded you in this long-standing production in this important part of the world,” he said.
President Oaks said Easter celebrations can commemorate “the entire ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ ... as we worship Him and consider the immense significance of His Atonement for sins and His Resurrection from death.”
“I am here in furtherance of President Russell M. Nelson’s call for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make the Easter holiday celebration have the same balance, fullness and rich tradition as Christmas. This requires us to make Easter a more Christ-centered holiday than Christmas has become.”
The Mesa Easter Pageant is a musical production presented in nine shows during the two weeks preceding Easter on the north lawn of the Mesa Arizona Temple. This year’s cast numbers 470, with hundreds more volunteers working behind the scenes. It is one of the three pageants sponsored by the Church after it was authorized to continue in 2018. Accompanying that announcement was a statement that said “the goal of every activity in the Church should be to increase faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and to share His gospel message throughout the world.”
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Mesa Easter Pageant Chair Matt Riggs introduces President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a devotional for the cast and crew of the Mesa Easter Pageant in Mesa, Arizona, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Photo by Scott P. Adair, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.President Oaks also noted some of the history of the outdoor pageant, born 86 years ago as an Easter Sunrise Service on the Mesa Arizona Temple grounds.
“As it exists today,” he said, “the Mesa Easter Pageant is a treasured and honored evening program.” He thanked everyone involved, from the composer to the costume creators, and from those who pick up trash to hundreds behind the scenes who do a multitude of important tasks.
He recognized the price of such a time commitment for this type of service but noted that the “highest reason for service — for the love of God and His children — is what the scriptures call ‘a more excellent way’” and that “service with ‘the pure love of Christ’ is the ‘greatest of all.’”
President Oaks, who was accompanied by his wife, Kristen, said they were looking forward to seeing the pageant for the first time.
Sister Oaks spoke before her husband at the devotional, telling the packed chapel of costumed actors and support crew that “what you are doing tonight is calling people to Christ; this is no small thing,” she said. “People need to turn to the Savior, and you are calling them. I want you to know that the work you are doing has eternal significance, and we want to support it.”
“You are literally performing ‘the song of the Lamb,’” she said, quoting from Doctrine and Covenants 133. “You are teachers of the reality of the Christ. The Spirit of the Lord flows through you as you appear in the pageant, and I’m sure you’ve felt it go through you. When you perform, it’s pure truth, and it affirms to the world that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, our Advocate and Mediator with the Father, but, most importantly, as you speak and sing and say the sacred words of Christ, you testify of that truth to everyone around you.”
Doug Nelson, of Mesa, who serves as director of administration for the pageant, said, after the devotional, it was so special to him to learn that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are aware of the many efforts put into the pageant.
“President Oaks described how important it is,” he said. “They acknowledge that we are doing the Lord’s errand here and that it does take sacrifice, but we’re carrying on the Lord’s work.”
He added: “It makes you feel really good inside that the little part you do, and the little part you participate in — that we all do — is known by the prophets, seers and revelators.”
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President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, center, and his wife, Kristen, participate in a devotional for the cast and crew of the Mesa Easter Pageant, with Pageant Chair Matt Riggs, left, in Mesa, Arizona, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Photo by Scott P. Adair, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.Copyright 2024 Deseret News Publishing Company.